MI2 Strategy Group Updates

We're excited to share the latest news from our four strategy groups, which are based on the four strategic focus areas defined by MI2's Metals Leadership Council: talent and workforce, branding, grants and funding, and sustainability.Talent and Workforce Strategy GroupThe Talent and Workforce Strategy Group came together in June to discuss big picture ideas for MI2's year two that the strategy group could help inspire, design, and oversee. Topic areas discussed included opportunities to tap into talent beyond Kentucky's borders for jobs with Kentucky's metals companies, thinking more deeply about the new employee experience for folks who join the metals industry, and other key areas of potential focus for next-stage talent and workforce projects.The team discussed plans for hosting a summer planning session in person, meeting in Elizabethtown at the new Center of Kentucky Entrepreneurship which houses the Elizabethtown office of the Central Region Ecosystem for Arts, Technology, and Entrepreneurship (CREATE).The Talent & Workforce group will be joined by Luke Ramsay, who will act as a deputy to strategy group leader Chris Boggs (Kobe Aluminum Automotive Products). Ramsay is a fellow with AccelerateKY and was the Kentucky team's champion as part of the MIT Regional Entrepreneurship Acceleration Program (MIT REAP).Branding Strategy GroupThe Branding Strategy Group is actively working with the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development on a Metals Industry Guide. As part of that collaborative effort, MI2 has deployed a questionnaire for metals companies in the state. That questionnaire is being circulated among metals companies, with a hope to collect answers by early-to-mid July. You can see the questionnaire hereand contact MI2 Director of Strategic Communications Sam Ford at sam.ford@mi2ky.org for any questions if you're interested in replying for your company.In addition, the strategy group discussed the launch of, and marketing plans for, the new Metals Innovation Search being conducted through mid-August, with selected ideas being presented at the inaugural MI2 Annual Conference in September, with a focus on The Factory of the Future. The conference pre-registration launched in June, with the conference page going up at the end of the month and registration opening in early July.Finally, the group discussed work on personas for important audiences for the metals industry, MI2's bringing aboard a user experience designer, and priorities for "year two" branding projects.The Branding strategy group is led by Bob Eviston (River Metals Recycling), with support from deputy Sam Ford, MI2 Director of Strategic Communications.Grants and Funding Strategy GroupThe grants and funding strategy group in June discussed plans to get together in person for a brainstorming session about grants and funding priorities for the coming year for MI2. Currently, MI2 is actively working on the GAME Change NSF Engine project across Kentucky and Tennessee and is actively supporting a range of recently submitted and in progress NSF and EDA grant opportunities.The group also discussed the University of Kentucky's recently established research priority area on materials science, the draft Kentucky Science and Technology Plan currently being put together, and an effort led by Western Kentucky University's Dr. Cathleen Webb on gathering equipment needs across research centers in the state to pursue grant opportunities for additional equipment, particularly that can help drive partnerships between colleges/universities and the private sector.The Grants & Funding strategy group is overseen by Joe Stutz (Wieland), with MI2 Grants & Funding Consultant Ruthie Caldwell acting as deputy.Sustainability Strategy GroupThe Sustainability group continues to oversee the two-part trial for a hydrogen fuel cell powered truck and an electric battery powered truck being conducted at Logan Aluminum and a project led by a team at Novelis in partnership with MI2 and the sustainability strategy group on best practices for measuring waste heat and ideas and inspiration for uses for what companies can do with excess heat they create.The strategy group will also be on hand to review ideas coming in from the new MI2 Metals Innovation Search that tackle sustainability and end-of-life recycling solutions.The Sustainability strategy group is overseen by Andy Ishmael (Tri-Arrows Aluminum), with support from group deputy Ben Atkinson, innovation consultant and founder of Blue Sky Ronin.